Is the government declaring war on religious activity in schools?

This morning, after a long and frustrating search, I finally found an on-line version of the Stimulus Plan that has been sent to the Senate for consideration. It’s called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Here’s a link to the 258 page document–enjoy!)

I read as much as I could this morning and I can tell you that I’ve never seen so many zeros in my life!

Millions for that. Billions for that.

Yikes!

This is not a political blog–it’s never been. I’ve made a point of staying out of politics, but–that being said–I do think it’s important that–as Americans–we make ourselves familiar with the details of this bill.

As Christians, I think we need to be aware of what we find on page 193 line 19ff.

This “stimulus” bill prohibits any money from this bill from being provided for the “modernization, renovation, or repair” of the facilities for any school that is “used for sectarian instruction, religious worship, or a school or department of divinity; or in which a substantial portion of the functions of the facilities are subsumed in a religious mission” (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, pp 193 line 19-194 line 3).

In an article (click here to read the article) on this provision, Matt Staver, founder and chairman of the Liberty Council is cited as saying, “What the government is doing is discriminating against religious viewpoints.”

The Executive Director of the Traditional Values Coalition, Andrea Lafferty, noted, “The economic crisis is being used as a pretext to curb religious liberty at institutions of higher learning.”

I’d encourage you to read the provision for yourself and draw your own conclusions.

Let’s all keep praying for the leaders of our country. May God guide them and give them wisdom as they lead this great country.

2 responses to Is the government declaring war on religious activity in schools?

I thought I had heard it all. Let me get this straight; you want the US government to spend stimulus dollars on modernizing, renovating and repairing Churches? I presume that you are equally supportive of that money being spent to support secular humanist organizations as well.

No, I do not want the US government to spend stimulus dollars on Churches. It would be nice–and reflect the acceptance of religion that our founding fathers intended–but it would be unwise in light of the current culture entrenched in the government right now. I don’t want the government in the position to have any control over the Church. Freedom of religion is what the founding fathers promoted; not freedom from religion. I don’t think it’s constitutional for public schools and schools of higher education to be denied stimulus dollars because they allow religious groups (and–to be fair and consistent–I mean all religious groups. I just think Christians should have a right to “sit at the table”–so to speak. For the record, humanism is a religion and humanists are allowed to exist on school campuses without scrutiny.) If you read the original writings of our founding fathers you’ll see that they did not want to do anything to promote a state religion (like the Church of England). They promoted separation of church and state, not separation of church from state. There’s a big difference. They embraced religion and knew that the survival of our republic depended on faith in a supreme being. Any cursory reading of their writings will reveal that they assumed that religion would be woven into the fabric of our society, they just didn’t want the government to establish one state religion.

Regardless of what I approve of or disapprove of, government money is already being spent to support secular humanists organizations. I just think that it’s wrong–in light of the original intent of the writers of the Constitution–for public institutions to be punished (or persecuted) for tolerating, encouraging, or conducting religious activities. History has proven (which our founding fathers knew and understood) that societies who remove God from the fiber of their existence, remove a stabilizing force, and set themselves up to crumble and fall.

Who is Arron Chambers? Lead Minister of Journey Christian Church in Greeley, Colorado, Author, Husband of a Lovely Wife, Father of Four Kids, Evangelism Champion, Leadership Consultant, Marriage Coach, and Blogger

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